Up to 300 new jobs for Ford workers in Geelong

A small company from Melbourne is planning to recruit up to 300 Ford workers in Geelong who will be made redundant when the carmaker stops manufacturing in Australia.

Power Systems Australia is looking to make gas-fired generators to export to markets in Asia and the Pacific.

It currently employs 22 people in the Melbourne suburb of Campbellfield, but is planning to start a new factory in Geelong.

The company's managing director, Adrian Reedman, said part of the attraction of Geelong is its ready-made workforce.

Six hundred staff will be made redundant when Ford stops making cars in Australia in 2016.

"There is the opportunity to tap into a workforce of talented people without having to go through full retraining from the ground up and that's the attraction," he said.

Mr Reedman said the company plans to use that workforce to make the engines.

"They're used to assembly work in a fast production line which, to be honest with you, we're not geared up for that," he said.

He said the company will keep its 22 staff in Melbourne, where it will assemble the generators.

Dave Smith from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says the workers are thrilled.

"The Ford workers here have done it pretty tough for some time now, and for a company to have the confidence to come to Geelong and have the confidence in the skills that they can bring to his business is fantastic news," he said.

"You can never underestimate how important it is for these workers to have a job."

Mr Smith said he hopes the move paves the way for other companies.

"We're just really pleased that this is hopefully the start of job opportunities," he said.